t in some unknown fashion knowing the theory will
cause a person to vanish."

So there it was. Fred debated rapidly in his mind. It might be better to
admit it.

"Yes," he said.

"Hmm. Then let me ask you this. How do you account for the fact that you
know it, and haven't disappeared?"

Fred decided to be completely truthful and see what happened. "It's
because I don't let belief form a part of my thinking, sir. Dad
instilled that in me. With those that disappeared, logic was their
groundwork of belief."

"But you believe knowing the theory caused them to vanish?"

Fred smiled. "I see what you mean. No, I don't. It's just that no other
alternative seems probable, so...."

"So you work with the one that does," Curt said, nodding. "All right,
let's work with it for the moment. You have probably done some thinking
on what mechanism might be involved in the process of vanishing. Would
you care to tell me about it?"

"There's no reason why not, sir. It takes time for conscious beliefs to
sink into the subconscious and integrate there. The time varies with the
person and the emotions involved."

"That makes sense," Curt said, nodding.

"I postulated that down underneath even the subconscious, at the very
roots of being, is what I named the basic thought matrix. In order for
us to be here in this existence at all it must have a certain form.
Change that form and, presto, the person slips out of this existence,
perhaps into another."

"I see." Curt drummed his fingers on the desk for a long minute. "I
see," he repeated. "Has it occurred to you that you have already
rejected your theory? It's quite obvious you have, you know."

"How is it obvious?" Fred asked, wondering what Curt meant.

"Because you told me the theory. You wouldn't have, of course, if you
believed it would cause me to vanish like the others."

Fred opened and closed his mouth several times, unable to cope with
this. It was unexpected.

"We've gotten to the root of your trouble," Curt went on. "It was a real
trouble, to you. In a few months you will look back on it and marvel at
it. Right now it seems real. You feel that somewhere your father still
exists. You would like to go to him, or perhaps bring him back. Believe
me, such mysterious vanishings aren't uncommon. The history of the world
is full of such incidents. In some cases whole groups have vanished.
Authenticated cases. In southeast Asia the people of an entire city of
over a million